zlacker

"I've never heard a discussion on quitting cars on the nightly news"

I've never heard a discussion on quitting cars anywhere offline, to be completely honest.

The amount of people who currently drive cars who think to themselves, "You know what would be better? If I were sitting on some form of public transit right now..." is a very small portion of the real world population I assume (In North America)

Sometimes, the internet is not real life...

>>Jimthe+(OP)
I think most people would agree with the following: "You know what would be better? If I were not sitting in a car right now"

We can both recognize that cars can be necessary in certain conditions AND ideally not a big part of our lives. I think that's reasonable and possible.

>>Jimthe+(OP)
> The amount of people who currently drive cars who think to themselves, "You know what would be better? If I were sitting on some form of public transit right now..."

You're looking at it backward. I think almost everyone who sits in traffic or nearly gets in a crash by someone doing something stupid thinks, "Driving is awful." They've just been conditioned to think there's no alternative.

>>Jimthe+(OP)
You can check actual world-wide figures, and car owners are a tiny sliver compared to any other mode of transport.

>>Jimthe+(OP)
> "You know what would be better? If I were sitting on some form of public transit right now..."

But almost everyone would say "it would be better if there was less traffic to deal with."

>>diggin+0a
They tend to think driving is awful under those conditions, but still better than not being able to drive. The thing with a car is that you can go anywhere at anytime where there's a road, which is virtually everywhere. You don't have to share the car with strangers, you can transport things in the car too heaving to carry in all sorts of weather.

The convenience is hard to beat even with good public transportation.

>>diggin+0a
more likely they think 'rush hour is awful' or 'traffic is awful', i highly doubt they would prefer to experience the same density of bodies traveling on the bus or train.

>>odessa+oB
You can't exactly replicate the density of congested cars as people on buses...

Although here is an attempt from a Saturn commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_oWmY_mkCA

>>goatlo+qo
> you can go anywhere at anytime where there's a road

Yes, cars are a horrible implementation of socialism. Everyone pays for extensive roads networks and maintenance because cars are impossible to use without them. And then everyone pays for cars and maintenance because traveling is impossible without them. And car dealerships get rich scamming your mother.

You can go anywhere at anytime on foot, as long as somebody doesn't build a wall. Public transit isn't supposed to be door-to-door. It's about enabling true freedom of movement by connecting you across longer distances. Cars are about making all distances long.